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“The successful launch of SBIRS GEO Flight-4 is the reward for years of hard work put in by our combined government and industry team,” said Air Force Col. Dennis Bythewood, director of the Remote Sensing Directorate. “Putting this fourth SBIRS GEO satellite on-orbit is the capstone event for the original SBIRS baseline constellation, and I’m proud of everyone involved. Without their perseverance and dedication to the mission, this wouldn’t have been possible.”

Stage Separation

The spacecraft separated from the upper stage approximately 43 minutes after launch. Following separation, the spacecraft began a series of orbital maneuvers to propel it to a geosynchronous earth orbit. Once in its final orbit, engineers will deploy the satellite's solar arrays and antennas. The engineers will then complete checkout and tests in preparation for operational use.

The capabilities GEO Flight-4 brings to the nation are ushering in a new era of overhead infrared surveillance. GEO Flight-4 will continue to provide global, persistent and taskable infrared surveillance enabling the nation and its allies to have increased global situational awareness for years to come.

“Today’s launch marks another win for the infrared sensing mission by providing numerous additional capabilities, such as faster and more accurate missile warning, to the warfighter” said Air Force Col. Ricky Hunt, Overhead Persistent Infrared Satellite Systems division chief. “And in addition to the near-term improvements are the amazing capabilities the Air Force, industry and academia are creating with the data in our tools, applications, and processing laboratory, as well as the support provided to the [Overhead Persistent Infrared Battlespace Awareness Cell]. You can’t help but be impressed with what the team has done here.”

The SBIRS program is managed by the Remote Sensing Systems Directorate at the Air Force Space and Missile Systems Center at Los Angeles Air Force Base, California. The 460th Space Wing at Buckley Air Force Base in Aurora, Colorado, operates the SBIRS system.

The SBIRS program delivers timely, reliable and accurate missile warning and infrared surveillance information to the president, the defense secretary, combatant commanders, the intelligence community and other key decision-makers. The system enhances global missile launch detection capability, supports the nation’s ballistic missile defense system, expands the country’s technical intelligence gathering capacity and bolsters situational awareness for warfighters on the battlefield.